I could have written most of this post two days ago and it would have been exactly the same. But there is always hope and optimism, and I am a sap at heart.
1. Black entrepreneur and pundit Adam Coleman nailed it in his substack. He writes in part,
…When you’re glued into politics, reading blogs, scrolling through social media, you get inundated with niche issues and everyone is trying to convince you that this is the defining problem that will swing an election…And it never really is. These are usually tertiary to the real reason the average person who barely cares about politics got in their car and drove to the polls; kind of like a protest drive since gas prices are relatively high. The country isn’t split between hardcore Democrats and Republicans because clustered in the middle are fickle and swing voters who are reacting to the moment. These are people who selectively vote (even if they predominantly vote for one party) or might vote for both parties. These are regular Americans who pay more attention to their wallets than what some Ivy League economist says about the economy. I once heard someone describe the economy for the average person as a “vibe” versus a reality and I think they’re kind of right…Pretty much every president has low approval ratings, or at least periods of low approval ratings that coincided with midterm elections.Right or wrong, the economic woes of the public will always be put at the feet of the president. If the stock market sucks, it’s the president’s fault. If you can’t afford DoorDash like you used to, it’s the president’s fault.
The midterms are the way for the American public to punish the president in power. Yes, the typical political discussions matter, like quality of candidates etc. However, if people are angry and emotional, they don’t generally make rational decisions. If the reason for them voting is based on spite, do you really have a chance of changing their minds? You can’t fact your way out of shifting an emotional voter.
I kept getting the same irrational response Coleman describes from even more politically engaged friends and relatives, despite the fact that the rate of inflation has come down since the Biden administration, and even though the recent GNP report showed vivid economic growth.
2. What creates a “vibe” that is illusory and manipulative? The news media, of course. (Cont.)
An unprecedentedly flawed president. And it will have been an unprecedentedly unprecedented sixteen years by their end.
“The GOP lost a winnable Senate seat in North Carolina by nominating the sister of the late Republican who had held the seat.”
Man, I wish she was in North Carolina. She came to my city two weeks ago to give a speech. She spent the whole time attacking her opponent and was very lackluster. The 79-year-old Governor who introduced her had more spirit than she did. The Speaker of the State House spent his time hyping her up, and I just spent the whole time wishing he was the one running.
Whoops, I did it again. I bet I’ve switched the Carolinas at least ten times since EA started. Thanks. Fixed.
If it makes any difference, it looks like the Democrats will probably forget their talking points about “affordability”, “healthcare” and “democratic norms” for the next two years while they engage in relentless lawfare against the President.
Goody.
Talarico is also a racist, as I poin ted out in comments on other posts.
Well, the news media has been saying Trump is a racist, so there’s that.
Except I posted an actual quote that looks like a find+replace from Der Sturmer